Indian Summer Autumn Colours
by Sarah1278
Summary: Based on the 1980s TV series "Fame". An AU epilogue to the episode "Indian Summer". What if Doris and Danny had stayed together?


Indian Summer - Autumn Colours

A/N: Based on the classic 1980s TV series "Fame", which is owned by its producers and by MGM. I make no money from this story. It exists solely for entertainment purposes. The first section of this story is based heavily on the fourth season episode "Indian Summer", but the rest is all original.

/--\--/--\--

It was dark. It was very dark as Danny Amatullo led his girlfriend Doris Schwartz into the prop room at the School of the Arts.

"Danny," she said, "I can't see anything." He turned on the only lamp in the room and suddenly it was filled with a glaring light. Doris looked around skeptically. "You call this romantic?" she asked in disbelief.

Danny looked at the offending lamp and thought for a moment. Even though they had already tried -- and failed -- to have a first date, he wanted everything to be perfect for Doris. In a moment of inspiration, he took a piece of gold-coloured fabric that was draped over a nearby dress dummy and placed it over the lamp. "Better?" he asked.

"Better," she replied with a smile.

"One more thing," Danny said as he reached around her to press play on the cassette player. He'd cued up the tape to the right spot earlier. From the small machine came the sound of "Sweet Dreams are Made of This" by Eurythmics.

Doris looked at him in amazement. "That's my favourite song!" she said in awe, impressed that he paid enough attention to remember a little thing like that.

"I know," he replied with a grin, quite pleased with himself that everything was going so well. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her and felt her do the same. They began to sway slowly in time with the music. Gently, Danny leaned in to kiss her. He was beginning to enjoy it when, all of a sudden, Doris began to laugh nervously and pulled away.

"I can't do this," she said apprehensively, and she pulled further away from Danny.

At once, Danny felt a mixture of emotions: confusion, a little hurt and even some amusement. In the fleeting moment before he spoke, confusion won out. "Yes you can," he assured her. At the same time he tried to figure out what the problem was, whether he was doing something wrong. He moved to put his arms around her again, but before he could, Doris began to speak.

"Okay," she said. "This time, let me start." She put down the large tote bag she had been carrying and led him to the small brown leather sofa on the other side of the room. She pressed him against the back of the sofa and leaned over him. She began to kiss him again, this time more passionately. She stopped them again, opened her eyes and pulled back, staying in his arms. "Are you now totally depressed?" she asked.

Danny thought for a minute. What he was feeling with Doris felt better, more real, than anything he had ever felt with any other girl. But Doris didn't seem to feel the same way. Danny decided to try to offer Doris a way out of the situation. He was an actor; he could do this. He hoped. "I don't get it," he said carefully, "Where's the magic?" He paused for a few seconds, his mind racing. He began to have second thoughts. Maybe if they tried again Doris would start to feel as strongly as he did. "You know what?" he tried. "Let's kiss one more time, just to make sure."

They sat up straighter on the sofa, leaning toward each other, joining lips one more time in a deep kiss. Danny realized that he should let Doris make up her mind about them in her own time, that he shouldn't push her, so he pulled away this time.

"Now I'm sure," he said, hoping that he convinced her that he was just as apprehensive as she was.

"Face it," Doris sighed. "I don't think of you as a boyfriend. I think of you as a best friend."

Danny tried not to let his disappointment show too much. "Now, don't sell that too short," he said, relieved that even though she didn't seem to want to have a romantic relationship with him, she still valued their friendship.

Doris got up and walked over to lean on the dress dummy. She looked back at Danny and sighed. "But I still love you," she said, affection evident in her tone and in her eyes.

Danny didn't know what he should say. Of course he loved her. They had been friends for too long for him not to. But he was quite sure that what he was beginning to feel for her was more than friendly. He waited a few seconds, composing himself before he spoke. "I love you, too Schwartz," he said finally. There. Keep it simple. That shouldn't cause any trouble. Danny got up off the sofa and walked over to where Doris stood. There didn't really seem like much point in prolonging this 'date'. "C'mon," he said. "I'll take you home."

"You don't have to," she protested.

"I know I don't have to," he replied. "I want to."

"That's silly," she pointed out. "You live all the way up in the Bronx, I live in Jackson Heights."

By this time Danny's easy-going sense of humour was making a comeback. "Nobody said it was going to be easy," he said mirthfully, his smile shining through into his eyes. He put his arm around her shoulder, at the same time reaching for the tote bag she had put down earlier. They began to walk out of the room together.

"You hungry?" Doris asked as they were leaving.

"Very," he replied.

/\/

They wound up stopping at Emilio's, a pizza restaurant a few blocks from the school. While Danny went to the counter to order their pizza, Doris sat at a table by the window. She took the time by herself to think over everything that had gone on that evening. She was still deep in thought when Danny arrived with their drinks.

"Pizza'll be about 15 minutes," he said. "I ordered it with everything. Hope that's alright."

"That's fine," she said absently, taking a sip of her drink.

"Doris, you alright?" Danny asked, reaching over to touch her arm. "You seem awfully quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "No, I'm not. What if we're making a huge mistake staying friends?"

The hurt look on Danny's face was unmistakeable. He opened his mouth a few times, but he was rendered speechless.

"Oh, Danny. No! That's not what I meant," she said hurriedly. "I meant what if we're making a mistake staying just friends. I was thinking maybe we should try the dating thing again. I lied before. I got scared. I mean, I feel so comfortable and safe when I'm with you, I didn't want to mess it up by giving in to teen lust. I know, it's a dumb idea. You don't feel the same way. God, it's so complicated . . ."

Danny's heart was beating a mile a minute. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I feel the same way," he said quietly. "Let's take things slowly. Tell you what: why don't we go to the fall dance together on Saturday to try it out."

She smiled at him shyly. "I'd love that," she said.

They both felt as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders, and they spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, eating and enjoying each others' company.

/\/

Saturday night came quickly. Doris was busy trying to tame her wild mane of curls and do her makeup when the doorbell rang. She heard her mother open the door and call out that Danny was there.

"I'm coming," she called. She hurried to put one more bobby pin in her hair and to add one more coat of lip gloss. She stepped back from the dresser to get a better look at herself in the mirror. She mightn't be considered one of the great beauties of the world, but she was pleased with what she saw. Her dress was made of a diaphanous crimson-coloured fabric and fit her perfectly. It flowed smoothly down her body, skimming her hips and falling to mid-calf length. Her shoes were the same colour as her dress, strappy and not too high. Smiling to herself, she turned away from the mirror, grabbed her purse and walked out of her room.

When she was halfway down the stairs, she looked up and caught Danny's eye. He gazed at her appreciatively, a flurry of emotions evident in his blue eyes. He cleared his throat. "You ready, Schwartz?" he asked. "We don't want to be late."

"Ready," she replied. She kissed her mother, took her wrap and slid her arm through his.

/\/

A short cab ride later they arrived at the school. Danny held open the door to the cafeteria and they stepped inside. Doris' breath caught in her throat as she took in the marvellous job the decorating committee had done. Gone were the signs of daily lunches; the long tables and the pervasive smell of cafeteria slop and old grease conspicuously absent. Instead, the walls were draped in autumn colours, illuminated by small twinkling lights. There were small round tables scattered around the perimeter of the room with a large area in the middle serving as a dance floor.

The first people they saw were Chris and Holly, who in the absence of finding other dates, decided to go to the dance together, as friends. "Hey, you guys," said Chris. "Guess you couldn't get dates either, huh?"

"Yeah, we could," Danny corrected, putting his arm protectively around Doris' shoulders. "We came together. It was rocky at first, but we decided to keep going out."

"Well, that's great you two," said Holly happily.

"C'mon, Holly, let's dance," suggested Chris as the band started to play a quick rock song. He led her to the dance floor, leaving Danny and Doris alone. They sat at one of the small tables and looked around. John Seaver, a sophomore music major and a small band were on the bandstand, enjoying the attention they were getting, and looking like they were having fun.

"Nice, isn't it?" asked Danny, lacking anything else to say.

"Yeah," Doris responded awkwardly. "They did a great job." She looked down at her hands which were sweating and nervously shredding a paper napkin.

The band began to play "Never Gonna Let You Go", a much slower ballad, and one of Danny's personal favourites. "Doris," he asked gently, his accent thick with anxiety. "Would you like to dance with me?" He knew he had no reason to feel nervous asking her, but his heart was racing anyway.

"Of course," she replied, letting him lead her to the dance floor. She put her arms behind his neck, and he put his around her waist, and they began to sway in time to the music. Soon, they felt as though they were the only two people in the room as they saw and felt only each other. Doris let her head rest on Danny's shoulder and sighed with contentment. If she had known that dating her best friend would make her so incredibly happy, she would have started it ages ago.


End file.
